Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out another run in the Kremlin, backed a proposal on Wednesday to extend by two years the presidential term.

Putin, however, added it was too soon to say who would be the next candidate for the constitutionally-stretched office.

Legal experts say the changes would not benefit Putin's successor President Dmitry Medvedev, though Russian lawmakers moved Wednesday to fast-track approval of his bill.

Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will outline his proposal for a new "Euro-Atlantic security architecture" at an EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday, a top Kremlin aide said Wednesday.

Medvedev first revived the Perestroika idea of a new security system "from Vancouver to Vladivostok" in his first foreign policy address in June. Western diplomats say they are open to the idea, but that the concept remains vague.

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out another run in the Kremlin, backed a proposal on Wednesday to extend by two years the presidential term.

Putin, however, added it was too soon to say who would be the next candidate for the constitutionally-stretched office.

Legal experts say the changes would not benefit Putin's successor Dmitry Medvedev, though Russian lawmakers moved Wednesday to fast-track approval of his bill.

Moscow - The Russian Finance Ministry on Wednesday cut its oil forecast to 50 dollars per barrel for next year as the global financial crisis drags down demand for the country's largest export.

"This is substantially lower than what has been fixed in the budget," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told lawmakers in a televised meeting. The federal budget was pegged to a price of oil of 95 dollars for 2009, one of the world's highest forecasts among oil exporting countries.

Moscow - A least five Russian ice hockey players under the age of 20 suffer from seriou

Moscow - Russia, Iran and Qatar are to enter into a joint venture to produce and export gas as officials of the three leading producers meet for gas cooperation talks on Wednesday in Doha, a Russian business daily reported.

Kommersant said the so-called "gas troika" would build a pipeline to pump gas from Iran's South Pars deposit, the world's largest, to be processed at a plant in Qatar, citing a Russian government official.

Analysts expect the project to be worth an estimated 4 billion dollars.